The child's refusal to eat terrifies mothers and grandmothers, but in most cases it is due to natural reasons and does not pose any threat to the baby's health. The situation requires the supervision of a doctor in rare cases - for example, if, due to poor appetite, a child suffers from anemia or hypovitaminosis, in other cases, parents can usually figure out the reasons for refusing to eat and take action without the involvement of specialists.
If your appetite suddenly disappears, illness may be the cause. Loss of appetite is accompanied by viral infections, helminthic infestations, and diseases of the oral cavity. Take the temperature, look at the child's throat, and do not force him to eat if he is really sick. Refusal to eat can also be caused by the experienced stress - troubles at school or in kindergarten, fright, a change in the usual environment. Children sometimes temporarily lose their appetite when they start attending school or kindergarten; for sensitive kids, it is enough to be present at a parental quarrel or watching a thriller on TV to lose interest in food for a day or two. Gently find out how the child is upset or scared and try to calm him or her down.
Carefully study the child's menu - it may only seem to you that he is not eating anything. Juice and fruit snacks, half-eaten burgers, a few tablespoons of soup - all this together makes up several full meals.
The child may not like the offered food or one of the ingredients of the dish - it happens that the kid, for example, refuses to eat salad with sour cream, but he devours chopped vegetables without any additives with an enviable appetite. Sometimes children are alarmed by the unusual sight or smell of the dish, too large a portion, and the noisy environment at the place of eating distracts.
The simplest reason, which is usually overlooked by worried parents, is that the child does not eat because he is not hungry. He might not have had time to get hungry since the last meal, spend not enough energy to want to eat again, or get carried away by the game and forget about hunger.
You can't force a child to eat, blackmail, threaten: "If you don't eat the soup, you won't go to the circus (I won't let you walk, I won't buy a toy)!" Not the best option and playing performances while eating, persuasion, bribery. Food should not be associated with entertainment or psychological pressure.
For lunch or dinner, turn off the TV, put away toys and books - let the child not be distracted.
Don't give your child many choices, or substitute fruit or cookies for a full meal. If the children refuse to eat, hoping that instead of soup, mom will give not very healthy, but tasty sausages or sweets, let them know that this will not happen.
If the child refuses to eat, do not insist - remove the plate, let him leave the table and offer to eat after an hour, or do not offer at all until the child asks for food himself.
Kids can be interested in food by putting porridge on a plate in the form of funny faces, decorating dishes with chopped vegetables or fruits. It is important not to overuse such decorations, otherwise the child may refuse to eat too, in his opinion, boring-looking dishes. Older children can be involved in the cooking process - be prepared that at first there will be more clutter in the kitchen, but the children will be happy to eat their own salad or pancakes.
